SALISBURY — First Selectman Curtis Rand said at the Oct. 5 meeting of the Board of Selectmen that Resident State Trooper Chris Sorrell, who has worked as Salisbury’s resident State Police trooper for nine years, has retired.
Rand said the State Police handle choosing a replacement, and that four troopers have applied for the position. He said the new resident trooper should be on the job by the end of the month.
The resident state troopers are assigned to towns that request them, and the towns pay a majority of the trooper’s salary and benefits. They have an office at town hall but are still employed first by the State Police at Troop B, which has its headquarters in North Canaan. The program offers public safety continuity for towns that choose to participate. In the Northwest Corner, the towns with resident state troopers are Salisbury, North Canaan and Kent.
Rand said he has received numerous complaints about speeding, particularly on Taconic Road, Wells Hill Road, Salmon Kill Road and Belgo Road. He said he is researching the cost of additional electronic speed warning signs, which the town would have to pay for. “I think it’s a wise investment.”
The town has also chosen an engineering firm to design flashing traffic beacons for the crosswalk in the center of Salisbury village and for the crosswalk at The White Hart, and for a traffic safety upgrade on Salmon Kill Road, where the Rail Trail crosses the street.
Selectman Chris Williams, who is on the Pathways Committee, reported that the town has received a $400,000 grant to build a sidewalk between Lincoln City Road (where Salisbury Central School is located) and the firehouse on Brook Street.
And the town has received the permit from the state Department of Transportation to extend the sidewalk on Main Street (Route 44) from the library toward Lakeville.
Rand noted that people have complained about “free-ranging” domestic cats killing birds.
“There’s nothing to do about it right now,” he said. “But it is an issue.”
